Community Shines at Party with a Purpose

Thursday, February 21st, All Hands Raised welcomed nearly 900 guests—from all sectors of the community, including more than 60 local educators—for its 24th annual Party with a Purpose “PWAP” presented by Bank of America. And as Dan Ryan, CEO of All Hands Raised said in his remarks, “Portland you look good.” View the event photo album here.

The event, which is billed as Portland’s annual night off, featured headline comedian, Judy Gold. Gold has had stand-up specials on HBO, Comedy Central and LOGO, has written and starred in two critically-acclaimed, off-Broadway hit shows, and has guest-starred in over a dozen hit TV series, including The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, I’m Dying Up Here, Broad City, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and 30 Rock. She also won two Emmy awards for writing and producing The Rosie O’Donnell Show and is the host of the hit podcast Kill Me Now.

Held on the floor of the Moda Center, PWAP is a benefit for All Hands Raised, which delivers over $1.5 million of in-kind support annually to improve educational outcomes for Multnomah County’s 220,000 children, youth and young adults.

Most notably, the 2019 event marked the last one (and his 11th) for Ryan who announced his departure from All Hands Raised earlier in the year. At the event, Ryan was introduced by two educational partners, Hall ES Principal, Heidi Lasher and Reynolds MS Teacher, Alyson Drain who noted that as a facilitator of their school community site teams’ work he was, “humble and passionate, and he brings out the best in the people he works with.”

Local author and former Head Writer for LiveWire Radio, Courtenay Hameister served as emcee–eliciting roars of laughter with her Sponsor Spoken Word; Edna Vazquez delighted the audience with her soulful and moving voice; Congressman Earl Bluemenauer, founder of the event attended giving a toast prior to dinner; All Hands Raised Board Member, Micheal Burch shared his truth with the room; and “All Means All‘ debuted, sharing voices from the ground about the unique role All Hands Raised plays in the community.

The evening kicked off with an original short comedy skit featuring Gold, Bank of America Market President Roger Hinshaw and Hameister.

In addition to Presenting Sponsor, Bank of America, UnitedHealthcare is this year’s Entertainment sponsor, The Portland Trail Blazers is Venue Sponsor and PepsiCo is Reception Sponsor. See below for all of our event sponsors.

The All Hands Raised Partnership is Multnomah County’s cradle-to-career initiative to improve educational equity. This model is working—making a difference for our kids—because of deep engagement and commitment of countless individuals and organizations from every sector of the community. All Hands Raised is recognized as a national leader in this field and a model for other cradle-to-career initiatives across the country.